longshot-in-rancho-ca-6-15-01
Title: longshot-in-rancho-ca-6-15-01
Author: Michael "Longshot" Mendoza
Date: Jun 21, 2001
Dan Lujan and Nick LaFarga show up (both over 1900 rating), so John Patchell (my playtesting buddy, rated 1980 or so) and me see some competition there. Paul Tartaglio, our local SM also shows up. So we*ve got 15, and Doug Walker (the TD) calls the pairings.
Game 1: DS v Chris Nicholson*s Yavin 4 deck
He starts Y4 system (?!), Menace fades, Insight, and the light side Crush. I pull Carbon Chamber and West Gallery, activate, then deploy them and Bespin system. He deploys the Massassai Ruins and Farm to Y4, and tries to lose Insight for I Feel The Conflict, but it doesn’t deploy for free so he takes Honor in hand instead. I’ve got an Alter in hand (and Emperor), but he deploys haven on Y4 with a Red Squad Xwing there, so Honor is immune. I deploy the sector, then Emp to Casino, then draw for a beatdown squad and ships. He drops General Obi and CC Leia (yes, the Leia from CC!) on Emp, so I lose a couple force (Leia’s immune to my attrition!). All I can do is deploy IG88 w/gun, cap Leia (who I send to used pile), and kill Obi w/ a 5 destiny. I lose IG88.
Now he deploys I Feel The Conflict, and Special Ed Leia (she pulls leaders and -1 to drains) to the Farm, along with Leia of Alderaan (nonunique rebs deploy -2 and power +2!) and a Y4 trooper. Xizor and Mighty Jabba come down and kill the Y4 trooper (I drew BAD destiny!). Then COK and 2 more troopers come down and I lose Xizor and stack 1. So I come back and drop Mara w/stick and EPP Fett, but I draw bad again and I lose the battle and stack another, he loses another trooper. So I have Mara and Jabba vs. Leia and COK. He deploys another Red Squad xwing to Y4 (where are my ships?) and 2 more troopers to the farm, so I stack another. Long story short, I stack 6 cards at the farm (damn troopers are TOO strong), before taking it over with Mara w/saber standing alone.
I’ve been draining on CC w/DD in effect and DLOTS at a site alone. So he drops Rebel Scout Luke w/saber and Profiency and battles. I KNOW he’s got the Anakin Skywalker to cross Vader, so I watch him miss the swing and draw low destiny, so I decline to draw and just lose Vader (not wanting to risk killing Luke). Yup, he had the Anakin Skywalker, so I finally draw my ships and play a Lateral on an xwing and deploy Zuckuss and Chimeara to Y4 to end the game. I also win Obi*s saber and Falcon in Sabacc. Win by 35. 2 (+35).
Best: Retrieving everything thanks to Sabacc. Actually, Brangus was doing the Sabacc at the casino most of the game since I kept drawing Lando for destiny (he’s a wild card!).
Worst: Stacking 6 on IFTC! That’s got to be a record, no?
Game 2: LS v Patchell*s ISB Sunsdown (IAO, MobPts, Plans)
Aacckk, we know each other*s decks! That sucks. He starts Imperial Square. I start Squassin 3rd. He draws and deploys like every DB in the game during the next couple turns, I deploy Crix, Kensaric, and Panno to Landing Site, deploy Back Door. He deploys Sunsdown on Endor, 2 ORS, Mara (I barrier her), and dengar w/gun. He misses both shots, I draw 4, so he loses 2 ORS and I lose Panno. Luckily, my hand is full of scouts so I empty my hand (Pulling COK & Wuta) and smack down Mara & Dengar with a Take the Initiative (lost). He loses a few more force. I think I had 8 scouts there. Dengar did hit Kensaric though, so i lost Bruckman as well. I’ve still got to worry about Sunsdown though. I setup in space with Lando in Gold 1 and Hassh’n in Home One. He pulls Executor w/Mob Pts and draws for a while. He’s got 12 in hand, so I Grimtaash lost (I get nothing), but I see he’s got IG & Fett w/guns, Lord Vader w/saber, Maul, Thrawn, Executor, an ORS, and Dengar in ship, Blizzard 2 and 2 other ISB agents.
I’ve got Blount in hand (waiting for him to flip). He drops an ISB to Y4 and Hoth Dbs, flips, then drops Blizzard 2 to Endor DB and moves them aboard. I’m still grouped at the landing Site, but he’s got too big of a beatdown in hand, so I am content with not draining for now. I draw. Mech Failure, Orri, and DOS, among others. Nice. Then things happen fast. He drops Executor w/Thrawn to Endor. I play and track a TMAC. I battle Executor, he draws low so i’m immune and he loses Thrawn. Then an ORS, IG and Fett w/guns & Dengar in PO go to Endor and battle, he loses an ORS, I lose Lando to the tank. I redeploy Lando and Nien aboard Gold 1, battle, and kill IG and Fett. I also play Mech Failure and Orri and kill off Blizzard 2, playing Insertion Planning (and tracking it), then Orri moves to Bunker.
He drops Lord vader w/saber to Orri, hits him, but draws a 2, Orri draws a blind 6, so he has to lose Vader & 2 force, and he loses Maul (he was too low on force to pay his high deploy cost). So now Blount finally goes to Coruscant to drain for 3 and flip him back, and I can drain again. I beat down Executor and Dengar to control Endor. Win by 28. 4 (+63).
Best: Had dengar hit 2 scouts in the very 1st battle, the game would’ve been very different, so that’s good for me.
Worst: Couldn’t blow away the bunker.
Game 3: LS v Paul Tartaglio*s TDIGWATT (I’m Sorry,Plans, IAO)
I start Battle Plan 3rd. He pulls his sites, draws. I drop Crix, Kensaric, & another scout to Landing Site (the ideal setup). He draws up again completely, but he’s pissed about something. I have a Grimtaash, and think about it, but I wait. His turn, he draws up AGAIN, so he’s got 23 cards in hand before he says "Finally!!" So I Grimtaash lost. Here’s his hand:
8 Stormtroopers
4 Trooper Assualts
2 Stunning Leaders
2 Ghhk Combo cards
2 Obsidian 7
2 Obsidian 8
Mosep, Dark deal, and Search & destroy
20 force lost on 1 grimtaash. I spread out razor thin and drain, then next turn flip while he draws like crazy. I even take over his sites, but then i stop because i don’t want to overdeploy. So he deploys some troopers, but I cancel his last trooper Assualt w/TMAC, so that’s that. Win by 31.
6 (+94).
Best: 3rd turn Grimtaash was pretty huge.
Worst: Didn’t blow away the bunker, AGAIN!
Game 4: DS v Patchell*s Profit (Wise Advice, Camp, DTF)
This is just wrong! Dan intentionally won his 1st 2 games by 1 so he wouldn’t play Patchell or myself, but he lost to Nick, so it serves him right. I should be playing Nick (who is the only other 3-0), but we were both Light last game. I start EPP Fett & Jabba in the AC. I deploy 4LOM 2nd turn to the AC. He just draws, and i expend most of my hand when I deploy Zuckuss in MH to bespin, Dengar in PO to the clouds, Emp, Lobot, & Brangus to the sites (then moving them together), then DD and CC Occ go up. He barriers Dengar. I had started Battle Order 3rd, so I didn’t want to move Zuckuss to the clouds to backup Dengar. So I left Dengar alone, knowing John only has 1 ship in his deck. Luckily, he had nothing, so on the next turn Dengar flew to the system.
Meanwhile, I have almost no hand now, so John deploys ben, Master, JarJar, and EPP Leia to the AC and battles. JarJar kills 4LOM, but he misses the shot and bounce on Jabba. So I lose Fett, he revives Leia. I deploy Xizor to JP, move Jabba there. He frees Han, and moves Leia and some 2/2 smuggler to JP. I draw, looking for some good stuff. He drops Lando w/ax and kills Jabba and Xizor, he loses the smuggler. But I drew EPP Vader, Tarkin, and DR E/Ponda. So they come to JP, operate on Lando, and he loses Leia plus 6-7 more force. I lose Dr E./Ponda (Tarkin had to cancel Leia shot). Then i make a dumb move, I move Emp over to drain alone (the drain of 3 is too big to resist). That leaves Brangus and Lobot together. So on his turn he Nabruns (I searched my hand like 5 times for a Sense, i Play 3 of them, but I just had a sucky Alter) and beats the hell out of Brangus after he plays SATM on Lobot. Game winning beating right there. I survive, but he drains me out. Lose by 19.
6 (+75).
Best: Managed to do better than I thought in the fight on Tatooine. Normally I do bad in battles off CC (without the Deal adding +4 to power).
Worst: Not having a Sense when I needed it. I wasted it when he played Gift to look for a saber.
I end up with the highest diff, but Nick beat Tartaglio to go 4-0 and get 1st. Patchell gets 3rd. But hey, I get 3 packs of Tatooine and I get Sebulba*s Pod, Obi-wan, and a Darth Maul AI. I needed that Maul AI. Until next time, thanks for reading.
Props to:
Doug Walker for a good tourney, even though he was mad at the world for some reason or another. Something about not selling a lot of Jedi Knights.....(he’s the store owner)
Nick for going 4-0.
Everyone who read this, and liked it.
I guess Patchell deserves props for beating me, even though we all know he’s just a big scrub, heh heh.
Slops to:
Nick once I found out he was playing Hunt Down numbers/podracing/dueling
Dan for INTENTIONALLY winning his 1st 2 games by 1 to try to sneak into 1st place.